The Stories: YES participants will receiving training in creating digital portraits for local narratives of water that address the history of the Mohawk Valley, using documentation and visual media. The stories created by individual students will be displayed locally and their digital stories will be shared on Museum on Main Street’s website.

Training will take place on Monday, January 21, 2019 at the headquarters of the Schoharie River Center, 2025 Burtonville Road, Esperance, NY. The Schoharie River Center is a project partner along with the Museum Association of New York and the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street Program. Training for high school students will include techniques of documentation, including interviewing skills and audio and video technology skills. Techniques of storytelling through digital media will be explored in the day-long workshop. Participants will have opportunities to receive hands-on training by folklorist, Ellen McHale of New York Folklore and Lecturer in Communication at RPI and media specialist, Lillian Spina-Caza. Lunch will be provided. For further information or to register for the training, please contact John McKeeby, Executive Director of the Schoharie River Center at 518-875-6230.

EXHIBITIONS

In Harm’s Way: Community Responses to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee

In 2011, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee delivered two consecutive blows to communities in the Schoharie and Mohawk Watershed, as torrential rains caused unprecedented flooding throughout the region. Five years later, in 2016, NYF Executive Director, Ellen McHale, began to record the personal experience narratives of flood survivors and volunteers: first through a series of community “sharing” sessions focused upon the volunteer experience and later through recording the personal experience stories of those whose lives and property had been directly impacted by the catastrophic flooding caused by Irene and Lee in the Mohawk and Schoharie Watersheds. This exhibition is one result of this documentation. It represents a partnership with Long Island Traditions with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.